With over 40 million units sold, over 20 years in business and multiple Grammy Awards, Razor & Tie is one of the most successful independent music labels and publishing companies in North America.  The roster includes a variety of both established and developing artists such as The Pretty Reckless, Starset, All That Remains, The Sword and Red Sun Rising. Razor & Tie’s alternative-leaning imprint Washington Square features Austin Plaine, Soren Bryce and Mothxr.

Over fifteen years ago, a story of success began in the Austrian town of Eisenerz. What started out as a one-person operation in a cramped living-room, became one of the biggest record labels of the independent scene. Fans of the heavier genres have long come to know Napalm Records for its numerous metal releases, many of which have reached cult status.

In the beginning, Napalm Records focused mainly on the black metal releases of bands like ABIGOR and SUMMONING. Although both managed to create a style all of their own, SUMMONING in particular was most successful in taking their unique atmospheric style way past the European borders to reach an unbelievable level of notoriety on an international level.

But Napalm Records didn't stop there. Never shying away from unexplored paths of innovative musical styles and genres, the label supported artists that would later become known as the legendary pioneers and originators of the Pagan/Folk Metal genres, including the revered VINTERSORG and FALKENBACH.

Over the course of the years, Napalm Records searched for new talent and expanded its roster considerably by adding doom, power, symphonic and gothic metal to their ever-growing list. Within the gothic metal genre, THE SINS OF THY BELOVED, SIRENIA, and TRISTANIA were able to create quite a stir and successfully establish themselves among the best. In recent years, LEAVES' EYES, ELIS, MIDNATTSOL, KATRA, and EDENBRIDGE have also managed to join this illustrious group. With these releases, Napalm Records was able to widen its audience and soon felt encouraged to expand the variety of bands it would support.

Yet Napalm Records' folk metal focal point never strayed and the label continued helping bands like KORPIKLAANI, GLITTERTIND, TÝR, and ALESTORM achieve international notoriety.

The medieval rockers SALTATIO MORTIS, the "rock 'n' sad" initiators LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE, and scene icons ATROCITY, GRAVE DIGGER, and LEAVES' EYES helped Napalm Records become a household name among mainstream audiences by entering the charts repeatedly. With SALTATIO MORTIS, Napalm Records achieved the highest chart entry to date. "Wer Wind Saet" entered the German Media Control charts at number 10.

More recently, Napalm Records has embraced the rock and stoner rock scene with big-name signings such as MONSTER MAGNET, KARMA TO BURN, and BRANT BJÖRK.

One of the latest bands to join the Austrian label’s roster of celebrated artists is the US formation SEVENTH VOID, which boasts of two former members of the legendary TYPE O NEGATIVE, very keen on keeping their legacy alive. More recent signings include THE SORROW, LONELY KAMEL, HUNTRESS, and the doom legend CANDLEMASS.

However, Napalm Records does not only limit its operation to the support and development of new talent or the release of its artists' recordings. The label's own mail order service has been providing satisfied customers with the fastest delivery, unbeatable prices, and a top-notch service for many years. Over 15,000 items (CDs, vinyl, merchandise, etc.) are waiting to be discovered both in the biannually published print catalog and in the well organized, easy-access online store.

The Napalm Records Handels GmbH headquarters and center of operations, including the aforementioned mail order service, are located in Eisenerz, Austria and currently employ 13 people. A second office located in Austin, Texas, employs 3 people, while a third employee works for the label from Canada. Napalm Records also enjoys a close working relationship with an extensive worldwide network of A&R consultants and local promoters.

Last but not least, Napalm Records also boasts of its own publishing house. Over the years, IRON AVANTGARDE PUBLISHING has handled the rights to innumerable works from the most diverse of authors.

White Empress comprise: Paul Allender, formerly the main guitarist and songwriter in Cradle of Filth, vocalist Mary Zimmer from Luna Mortis and a vocal coach, Will Graney, keyboardist from Damnation Angels, Chela Harper, bass player for Coal Chamber, guitarist Jeremy Kohnmann from the Awakening and drummer Zac Morris who’s played with many bands including Ugly Kid Joe. 

When Paul relocated to the USA in 2012, in between working with Cradle of Filth, he decided to start work on another project, with local musicians in his newly adopted home of Minneapolis and his friend, Martin Skaroupka from Cradle of Filth; this soon became White Empress.

With Paul’s relentless guitar and Mary’s diverse vocals ranging from operatic to death metal screams, White Empress is exploring new areas of metal.

Paul Allender says, "White Empress is the link the music scene has been so desperately missing. The band started writing together two years ago and have slowly crafted the sound that is White Empress. White Empress has all the best parts of the metal scene rolled up in to one band. The music is hard, but emotive. White Empress’ unique style and sound stands is bringing the fresh life to the music scene that its been crying out for.” 

Their first release was their EP ‘White Empress’ which garnered great press and radio coverage. 

After this the band have moved on to their first album, entitled ‘Rise Of The Empress’. This has been recorded in White Empress’ studio and has been mixed and mastered by veteran producer, Kit Woolven (Thin Lizzy, Dave Gilmour…) and is set for release on Peaceville Records, 29th September 2014. 

The band already have fans in the press from their EP: 

Dom Lawson – Metal Hammer – UK  “Further proof that Paul Allender is one of the foremost masters of infernal riffs and atmospheric filth in metal today, White Empress wield old school grandeur and haunting, arcane extremity like gleaming weapons of sonic refinement. Dark, diverse, lissom and wickedly infectious, theirs is a sound that oozes freshness while dragging us ever deeper into the depths of Hell…”  

Malcolm Dome: Total Rock, Classic Rock – UK  “Really impressed with the tracks. They combine a eerie choral atmosphere with a full-on, scathing metal attack. The musicianship is intricate yet ferocious, and the vocals have the delicate web of intrigue.” 

Aldo Mancusi – Brutal Crush – Italy  “Devastating, Deadly, Extreme! Three words to define the sound of these guys. A war machine that wounds the listener to death with riffs forged in hot metal, drum rhythms that will rip out your guts and the ear-melting screaming. Excellent!” 

Tarja Virmakari – Metal Shock – Finland  When I heard the first WHITE EMPRESS demo tracks at the end of summer 2013, I was absolutely amazed! It’s not possible to compare their music to anything I have heard before. At one point I thought I heard something that reminded me of a song, but right in the next instant new atmospheres filled my mind. There were rich riffs, drum blasts, gut-tearing clean vocals, along with growls and screaming, which proved my assumptions to be wrong. WHITE EMPRESS is new, fresh and hypnotic,  something that has to be experienced personally. This band is surely one of the greatest sensations of 2013 and I cannot wait to see what 2014 will bring from the WHITE EMPRESS camp! 

RISE OF THE EMPRESS

“It might have looked like smoke to those who hadn’t been there…but it was steam. Steam rising from the still-wet wounds of the fallen, scattered across the fields. It mingled with the collecting dew and filled the air with a rank, pungent aroma. 
The smell of a new era.

The Warrior stirred, managed to get to his knees, and then, pushing with an iron hand on the dank ground, to his feet. His eyes scanned the scores of dead, searching for his weapon. A smile crept across his face.
Strong, victorious, he strode to the edge of the wood. All along the treeline, first one here, then one there, a new member of the new race emerged. They nodded to each other, knowing this was the dawn they’d waited for.

The marriage of man and machine had birthed them into a future where they held within them all the capacities of both.
Against the rising sun, a silhouette loomed, and he knelt at her feet. He turned his face up, and swallowed his knee-jerk revulsion to her monstrous flesh…
Aluminum coils, laced through her skin, held her form together here and there, the sacrifice she had coldly made to achieve majesty. 
All color had left her except for the dried clots of blood, which clung insistently to the holes left by the stoic stitching, begging her to remember a humanity she had marshaled, a mortality…. she’d eschewed.
The ink pools of her eyes surveyed her subjects, as one by one they bowed before her. Her glittering irises assessed them, counted them- dismissed them.

What she’d done had been for the cause- not them. If they proved loyal, they might live to see the third moon. If not- only the Warrior would be spared. 
Wiping the last of the battle sweat from her lips, she took his weapon and knighted him- the first, the last, the best… into the reign of the White Empress.”

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